by Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY Sports

by Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY Sports

PHILADELPHIA -- LeSean McCoy dashed, romped and juked through the snow for a record-breaking performance against a classic backdrop.

He listened, too.

After pregame warmups before Sunday's Snow Bowl at the Linc, the teammate next to McCoy in the Philadelphia Eagles locker room made a suggestion.

Brad Smith told the NFL's leading rusher that he needed to change his shoes.

McCoy didn't hesitate to heed the advice. He changed from shoes with half-inch cleats to a pair with three-quarter inch studs.

"Brad, I listen to," McCoy said, nodding at his teammate.

Boy did it make a difference. He stung the Detroit Lions for a franchise-record 217 yards -- breaking a Steve Van Buren mark that had stood since 1949 -- to fuel a 34-20 victory.

"That's a veteran move," said Smith, a backup receiver who came into the NFL eight years ago as a versatile Wildcat quarterback. "I'm trying to contribute."

McCoy chuckled, while giving props.

"That's that Wildcat in you," he said.

It was that type of day. A day for adjusting on the run and learning on the fly as Mother Nature dumped eight inches of snow on the place.

That McCoy gained 166 yards and scored on jaunts of 57 and 40 yards after halftime was reflective of another adjustment.

Eagles first-year coach Chip Kelly abandoned the outside running game that was smothered early. By the second half, it was pretty much downhill, with McCoy darting between the tackles, through lanes where typically stout defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley were reduced to minimal factors without traction.

Kelly, designer of an innovative and wide-open offense, may have thought all week that he would try to run plays away from the Lions' tackles.

Then came the snow -- earlier that expected and twice as much as projected.

He adjusted, which is what the smartest coaches tend to do.

"We talk about it all the time," Kelly said. "Everybody has a plan and then after the first snap it kind of goes awry. It's how you react to it. At times during a game, the crap is going to hit the fan.

"You show up here this morning, and our weather report was it wasn't going to snow until halftime."

The Eagles (8-5), who have done well enough all season at tweaking on the fly to take first place in the NFC East, were so much more adept at this than the visitors.

Detroit was the team that kept shooting itself in the foot.

The Lions have been trying to distance themselves from a rep as an undisciplined unit always poised to implode, and then they have another case like Sunday: nine penalties and seven fumbles, three of which resulted in turnovers. Four of the penalties came on neutral zone violations. Three of the fumbles came on shotgun snaps to Matthew Stafford, including a final dagger that was recovered by the Eagles when it was an eight-point game late in the fourth quarter.

After that mishap, Stafford showed obvious frustration as he walked off the field, yelling at center Dominic Raiola, who gestured back by pointing at the play clock.

That snapshot is more relevant in contrast to the poised Eagles, who had one penalty and one fumble. The only Philadelphia turnover came on Foles' ugly throw over the middle that was picked off -- his first interception of the season -- by Chris Houston.

But the Eagles, who had zero first downs and -2 yards after the first quarter and zero points at halftime, never became unglued.

In addition to McCoy's brilliance -- backed by play-calling adjustments in the second half -- that composure marked the beauty of the win.

And the ultra-confident Kelly listened, too.

Early in the third quarter, cornerback Cary Williams, gave a suggestion to the offense.

Williams has never done that. But given the trouble he was having through the snow, he knew it went both ways.

So he told Kelly that a deep post would work.

Done. Foles hit Riley Cooper for a 44-yard completion that set up Philadelphia's first touchdown.

For his part, Williams improvised, too. He couldn't twist and use catch-up speed like normal, but like several defenders would clear the turf around him before the snap, trying to allow for some traction as the snow piled above the ankles.